Tyne-Wear derby: Re-live classic Newcastle United v Sunderland games from the 1960s

Sunderland produced a bright and spirited performance which more than merited a hard-won point in a Second Division cracker.

The Wearsiders were up for the game from the start, the first to throw off the tension of the occasion and capitalising to storm in front.

George Herd swung the ball out to Jimmy Davison on the flank and he broke away from surprise call-up Colin Clish to slam over a low cross, with Brian Clough timing his run to perfection to slide the ball past home keeper Dave Hollins.

Sunderland had the upper hand but failed to make the most of their opportunities and paid the price when Newcastle levelled two minutes before the interval.

Jim Kerray got in a shot, 10 yards out, which Stan Anderson stuck out a foot to block, but the ball slid off his boot and deflected wildly into the opposite corner of the net, with keeper Jimmy Montgomery diving the other way – a “tragic moment for all the Sunderland players”, according to Argus in the Echo.

Sunderland almost snatched a late winner, with George Mulhall crossing and Herd diving horizontally to see his terrific header scrape the top of the bar.

Argus wrote: For suspense and spectacle, there is nothing in all the soccer calendar to compare with the games between Sunderland and Newcastle United.

“And I take my hat off to the 22 superbly fit young men who fought out the 87th Tyne-Wear derby. The thrills packed into 90 minutes of endless endeavour by both sides added another colourful chapter to the series which will be long remembered.”

Torrential rain, a gale force wind and a heavily muddy pitch, who also had pools of standing water, proved a leveller, with Newcastle having the better of the play as Sunderland failed with a short passing game which they stubbornly persisted with, despite the conditions not proving conducive to such tactics.

The weather hit Newcastle hard in the pocket, with just 27,341 braving the miserable conditions, when 60,000 had been expected.

Argus, in the Echo, firmly believed that the game should not have gone ahead, but admitted that the Magpies deserved their success.

Ron McGarry fired home the only goal from the penalty spot, with Jimmy Montgomery very close to getting a hand on the strike.

The spot-kick was awarded when Dave Hilley flashed past Montgomery towards an unguarded goal, with Charlie Hurley forced to fist the ball away to keep it out.

Argus commented: “It was a day on which rugged power and sheer courage were the prime qualities. Sunderland were not without it, but their right-thinking players were heavily outnumbered by United’s, who waited for nothing and ploughed through the quagmire as if convinced that the ball would be held up long enough for their tackles to reach the target. They were seldom wrong.”

Dismal Sunderland headed deeper into trouble at the wrong end of the First Division after a thoroughly miserable afternoon at St James’s Park.

Newcastle found it way too easy against a slipshod Roker side, and Argus have credit to the hosts’ “excellent defensive display and a standard of coverage which contrasted sharply with Sunderland’s fumbling.”

Chester-le-Street-born Alan Suddick pounced for both goals, one in each half.

He bagged the opener on 33 minutes after snapping up a long ball from Dave Hilley which caught Martin Harvey and Charlie Hurley flat-footed, before lifting a left-foot shot from 18 yards out of Jimmy Montgomery’s reach and into the top corner.

Sunderland were killed off seven minutes from time when ex-Third Lanark hero Hilley opted to feed Suddick instead of shooting, with the latter slamming home gleefully from 15 yards.

Argus wrote in the Echo: There can be no case for stretching a point to say that Sunderland deserved the breaks. Frankly, they did not, and they had to take most of the blame for pulling this derby down to the lowest level in the series for years.

“The unhappy collection of players, who, by the aggregate of their ability, should be able to hold their own in the highest company, walked into their fifth successive defeat like little boys lost.”

Super Sunderland shattered a disastrous run of 23 away games without a win in sparkling style.

It was the Rokermen’s ideal response to the Magpies’ purchase of striker Wyn Davies, with a strong showing by Sunderland debutant George Kinnell playing a role in keeping the Welshman quiet.

George Mulhall needed just seven minutes to make the breakthrough, bending his shot just inside the far post, to the disbelief of beaten keeper Dave Hollins.

Sunderland doubled their lead with an outstanding second goal on 42 minutes. Len Ashurst hit a long ball down the middle and Neil Martin latched on to it, rocketing home a header to silence the home crowd.

John O’Hare was the third Scot to score, beating Bobby Moncur to sidefoot home in style after Mulhall, set up by Jim Baxter’s crossfield pass, got the better of full-back John Craggs.

Argus commented: “Beating Newcastle 3-0 at St James’s Park would always be hailed as a great achievement, but to do it with so much in reserve, and at a time when United had just added £80,000 worth of talent to their striking force, made it an occasion to remember for the large Wearside contingent which pushed the attendance up to 58,740.”

The Red and Whites ended a six-month wait for an away point by firing a late equaliser.

Goalkeeper Jimmy Montgomery produced a typically outstanding performance to keep the hosts at bay on a mud-strewn pitch, with the conditions imposing a severe brake on ball skill.

Newcastle’s much-vaunted strike force of Bryan “Pop” Robson and Wyn Davoes was rarely given a chance to shine, though Sunderland-born Robson was close to a last-gasp winner when his right-foot drive rebounded off the underside of the bar, with Montgomery beaten.

Newcastle were ahead in just the 13th minute, after Davies nodded down Frank Clark’s free-kick and Robson moved the ball on for Jackie Sinclair, who got past Colin Todd and drove a powerful left-foot strike past a helpless Montgomery.

Dennis Tueart, making his derby debut against his home-town team, Colin Suggett and Calvin Palmer all went close before Suggett levelled seven minutes from time.

Len Ashurst hit a long ball down the middle, with Harris miskicking and Malcolm Moore moving it on for Suggett to slide in and roll the ball over the line, with Ollie Burton arriving too late to clear.

Argus wrote in the Echo after the Rokermen ended a four-match losing streak: “Sunderland could feel that they had fought hard enough to earn their game-saving chance.

“Brian Heslop and 17-year-old Richie Pitt teamed up well in the middle, while there was a lot of punishment for the young front three, and they stood up to it.”